Author:

Maria Way

School of Media, Arts and Design. University of Westminster.

Abstract

When The Da Vinci Code (Directed by Ron Brown) opened in 2006, it continued the controversy that had been initially caused by the publication of the bestseller, written by Dan Brown. The premise on which this book was based is not new and had, in fact, been the basis of a television programme (later a book by Baigent, Leigh & Lincoln, 1982). This last was discredited as it was based on a hoax perpetrated on the authors. Religious films have caused controversy since the very beginning of film – one of the first religious films being made as early as 1897 when the Lumière Brothers made The Life of the Christ. Religion is integral to the lives of those with a faith and thus it is relatively easy to cause hurt. More recently, one only has to think of the kerfuffle caused by, for instance, Scorsese’s 1988 film, The Last Temptation of Christ; Monty Python’s (1979, Dir. Terry Jones) The Life of Brian, Mel Gibson’s (2004) The Passion of the Christ, not to mention films such as Priest (Dir. Year). However one pitches a religious film it is likely to upset someone – either because it is too critical, or not critical enough – too saccharine or too bitter.